Somewhere in The 13th Warrior traces of a fun movie can be found; it might be a cool visual, an intense battle scene or an affecting performance. Most of the time its just plain dull, and bears the scars of a movie heavily reshot and retooled in post-production. It was originally titled Eaters Of The Dead, and was based on the best-selling book by Michael Crichton. The bulk of the movie was shot by Die Hard director John McTiernan, with Crichton serving as a hands-on producer. When the initial version failed miserably at test screenings things got messy; Crichton seized control of the production, reshooting large chunks and re-editing how he saw fit. In the end, it was more a Michael Crichton movie than a John McTiernan one. The movie was retited The 13th Warrior and sold heavily around Crichtons name, only to end becoming one of the most expensive failures in box-office history. It has a small fanbase who can see the goodness shining through the murk, but its been mostly forgotten about now.
